I have gotten used to downloading certain PDF files and then viewing them in a Preview session started by Firefox. When I upgraded Firefox to 3.5.2, this stopped working. What I got instead was a tab with a blank screen and the name of the file in the tab header. Where was my dialog box? How do I get the document?

Well, it turns out that selecting File » Save Page As will open a dialog box allowing me to save the PDF file. Then going to Finder and opening the file with Preview gets me to the place I was before. I suspect that this drop in functionality is simply a temporary bug -- but if it's bit you, too, this is how I worked around the problem.

But the good news is that my PDF issue pointed me to another hint here about viewing PDFs directly in Firefox via a plug-in. So for the cases where I don't want an archived copy of the PDF (like the monthly schedule for my local ice rink), I'll use the plug-in.

A workaround for PDFs not downloading in Firefox 3.5.2
Authored by: August on Aug 26, '09 01:54:28PM

I might be able to specifically select preview, install a pdf download plugin, or use Adobe reader as some people with this problem have done. But the real issue is that "Always ask" doesn't work anymore and it leaves many people lost and thinking that Firefox won't download PDF files anymore because the dialog box doesn't come up like it did prior to the upgrade.